Calling all Red Sox Fans

[aceindahole2K5]

assuming the sox complete the sweep today, would you rather play the yanks or the twins in the ALCS? is a world series trip tainted, or less sweet without having to go through the men in pinstripes?

personally i'd love to see em sweep new york in the ALCS, exorcise all kinds of demons

[Joe Average]

Well, the Curse isn't about not being able to beat the Yankees, it's about not being able to win a World Series. The Yankees didn't beat the Sox in 1986 or 1975 or 1967 (I think the Yankees finished in 9th place that year). And it's really not about a World Series trip. If they get into the World Series and lose to the Cardinals ... guess what? The Curse continues.

But sure. They can beat the Yankees. But not in a sweep. And if the Sox should meet and beat Minnesota in the ALCS, are you really going to be disappointed it wasn't the Yankees? That's the problem with some Sox fans, they are so obsessed with the Yankees, they think that by beating them, everything will be fine. The Yankees weren't a factor in 1986.

[Joe Average]

... which reminds me of a trivia question:

Name three Hall of Famers who began and ended their careers in the same city, but on different teams.


Babe Ruth -- Boston Red Sox, Boston Braves
Willie Mays -- New York Giants, New York Mets
Hank Aaron -- Milwaukee Braves, Milwaukee Brewers

There may be others. But these are certainly the most famous.

[Brettolius]

ain't sweeping the yankee's, son! booyakasha!! how 'bout them apples AAAHHHHH!!

[Camilio Pascual]

Joe - You brought back one of my most painful baseball memories. When Willie Mays (my all-time CF pick) was with the Mets and couldn't throw. A ball went to the outfield, Willie got it, and threw it to the other outfielder, who missed it. The error was charged to the other outfield. That was past the time Willie should have retired, I would have felt better if the error was charged to him. Still, that 1954 catch against Cleveland in the World Series...

[Brettolius]

...is the only reason we know vic wertz's name!!

[Camilio Pascual]

Originally Posted by Brettolius

...is the only reason we know vic wertz's name!!

You, sir, are a true fan! Speakin' of the Indians, I've always wondered...what if Herb Score had ducked? Or if Gil had fallen through the ice and drowned as a young boy?

[Joe Average]

Yep, Camilio. Mays was the best I'd ever seen. He was a baseball genius, in the way Maravich might have been described as a basketball genius or Unitas a football genius. When Jose Canseco became the first member of the 40/40 club -- 40 stolen bases and 40 home runs -- Mays said ... "If I'd have known then that it'd be so important, I'd have done it." No doubt he would have.

[Brettolius]

well, if mr. mcdougald had not made it (for whatever reason) or herb had ducked (woulda' been easier if he didn't have such a wild follow through!!),score would have went down as the left handed bob feller, or the possibly the american league's answer to sandy koufax...but we'll never know. what if clemente never got on that plane...

[Camilio Pascual]

Originally Posted by Brettolius

well, if mr. mcdougald had not made it (for whatever reason) or herb had ducked (woulda' been easier if he didn't have such a wild follow through!!),score would have went down as the left handed bob feller, or the possibly the american league's answer to sandy koufax...but we'll never know. what if clemente never got on that plane...

Another true fan!!! Great comparison, he was on track to be their Sandy Koufax.
Ah, Clemente! I grew up in Pittsburgh, and remember when he was Bob Clemente. Something that is very comforting to me, given his tragic death, is that he got to 3,000 hits...exactly.

[bcaz]

Camilio --

My all-time greatest sports hero was Roberto Clemente. He was the best all-around player I ever saw and had perhaps the best outfield arm of all time. Nobody went from first to third on a single to right field. I, too, remember as a little boy how lame it was when they tried to call him "Bob."

The first big league game I ever attended was Game 7, 1960 World Series. I was six. Upper deck, Forbes Field, first base side. Vivid memories of Kubek carried off after taking the ground ball in the throat. Berra, looking up at Hal Smith's blast going over the left field ivy. Berra himself with a huge homer late in the game. And, of course, Maz. With an introduction to baseball like this, how could I grow up not being a seamhead? Sigh ... moved to Connecticut in '61 and immediately embraced the Mets when they were created ... my very own team ... still suffering ... I saw Roberto's last regular-season hit, # 3,000, a gapper double at Shea off of lefty Jon Matlack. Little did we know ...

I've been wondering, Camilio -- were you a fan of that excellent Twins righthander Camilo Pascual? If so, why the extra "i?"

[Camilio Pascual]

Bcaz - I lived in baseball crazy Mt. Lebanon, a Pittsburgh suburb. Clemente is my #1 RF pick. What an arm he had. Remember the answer to this question? "What is the best defensive outfield in baseball?" Answer: Roberto Clemente in RF, Bill Virdon in CF, and somebody in LF. Remember those "Beat 'em Bucs" stickers that made it on the front page of SI? That was a magic year for me and my friends. The Yankees outscored us by a 2 - 1 margin and put up the most team offensive records in the World Series to that point and decades to come. Bobby Richardson was the MVP, what a shaft! Remember "Dr. Strangeglove", Dick Stuart? You saw the greatest, imo, home run ever hit in baseball history by the Amazin' Maz Bill Mazeroski. Ah, memories.
Camilo Pascual's name is often misspelled, I decided to go with Camilio so people would know who I was referring to but would know I wasn't him. I saw him when he pitched for perennial doormats, the Washington Senators. Then they got good when they went to Minnesota. - Thanks for bringing up some great memories, Camilio

[bcaz]

Camilo -- I too lived in Mt. Lebanon and was attending the second grade at Edwin Markham School (not on that fateful afternoon) in the autumn of 1960. The town was baseball crazy, but even as a small boy I was impressed with the passion for football. Growing up in CT, which is a strong baseball hotbed, I never saw football as revered as it is in western PA/eastern Ohio, even though my high school won two consecutive state championshps while I was there. I saw my first NFL game that November, with Bobby Layne (no facemask!) and Tom Tracy leading the Steelers over Paul Brown's Browns, featuring Jim Brown and Milt Plum.

[Camilio Pascual]

Bcaz - Unreal!!! I turned 10 that summer and went to Howe (?) and Markham. I lived on Anawanda until I was 8, then moved to Inglewood Drive. I played for the Spots (red hats), my brothers played for the Marks (green hats). We were big time Steeler fans, as my Dad played semi-pro ball against Pete Rose's Dad in Cincy. Remember what quarterback we traded away when we got Bobby Layne? Johnny Unitas!!! Remember how everybody got in their baseball gear and marched down (Washington Blvd.??, I forget) on the 4th of July? Remember your "tryouts" with the older boys pitching to see what you could do? I might have pitched to you. Amongst other things, I was supposed to throw 2 balls at you below waist level to see what you'd do. Sorry 'bout that, just following orders.

[bcaz]

Camilio:

First, I apologize for both of us to the Red Sox fans for hijacking this thread to Pittsburgh 44 years ago. Kudos to the Sox and congratulations to all you long-suffering fans, this coming from a Mets fan who bleeds (Giant orange and Dodger blue) Mets colors from every artery, vein and cappilary.

We lived on Sunnyhill Drive, not far from Washington Road, and I played ball behind the school and on (aptly named) Spalding Circle, and, since I was a little kid, in a lot of back yards. We were only there from August 1960 to July 1961, when we moved to Connecticut. My older sister and I (my brother was an infant) remember it as a wonderful time in our lives. A great neighborhood and town ... I also remember, given the time, the high consciousness surrounding the centinnial observance of Lincoln's election and the start of the Civil War. We played our war games wearing those weird Civil War hats and it struck me how fiercely proud Pennsylvania kids were to wear the Union blue.

[Camilio Pascual]

Originally Posted by bcaz

Camilio:

We lived on Sunnyhill Drive, not far from Washington Road, and I played ball behind the school and on (aptly named) Spalding Circle, and, since I was a little kid, in a lot of back yards.

If memory serves, Spalding Circle had a hill, I used to sled down it. We lived about a baseball throw away from each other.

How 'bout them Sox, eh? Enjoyed every minute of the Yanks' defeat, though I didn't understand the point of putting Martinez in. Johnny Damon comes back from the dead!

[chad shaver]

Hey, Yankees!!!

Who's your daddy?

[Brettolius]

well, chalk one up for the sox...ONE. our daddy sure ain't the sox,we still OWN you!! go back to the HARBA'!!!

[aceindahole2K5]

It is a glorius day for Red Sox Nation.........what a comeback.......equivelent to say roddick coming back against federer (one sided rivalry), from down 0-6, 0-6, 0-3, to win in a fifth set tiebreaker in the wimbledon final........

[Cruzer]

Instead of the hoped for ending after the final out Michael Kay should have said "Yankees Choke!!, Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Yankees Choke!!